Interview: Tony Trischka (God)father of Modern Bluegrass By: Rob Smittix

RRX: Once I saw that you were coming to Albany, this Friday, which is Friday the 13th to the Linda. I thought it would probably be a good idea to touch base with you. I love the Linda and I love bluegrass. So with the show being on Friday the 13th… are you super superstitious at all?

TT: Yeah, I think we’re gonna cancel this. No, just kidding. Despite everything, as long as a black cat doesn’t run in front of us and we don’t go under a ladder, I think we’ll be ok.

RRX: I think so.

TT: Yeah, and I love The Linda too. I did a solo show there a while back and I had such a good time. The folks are great. It’s a great space too, so I’m looking forward to it big time.

RRX: Absolutely. Now you’ve been doing this for quite some time. How did you really get started into bluegrass being a Syracuse native? I can’t imagine that there was a big bluegrass scene up there.

TT: Well, at the time there actually was to a certain extent. I grew up in the folk boom of the late fifties, early sixties, mostly for me… early sixties. And there was a lot of folk music around. There was a coffee house in Syracuse and they would get some bluegrass in there. But I heard a group called the Kingston Trio. The very first album I ever bought, there was a song in there called MTA. The banjo player, Dave Guard did a banjo solo and I was already playing folk guitar. I was doing some finger picking and doing some Doc Watson things with flat picking. But I heard that and said I wanna play the banjo.

RRX: Yeah!

TT: I got hooked and I’ve been hooked ever since to this very day.

RRX: I play guitar pretty poorly but I know how to work it a little bit. I’ve been around a few banjos and when I picked them up and I didn’t know what I was doing. Is there like a whole different tuning system going on with a banjo?

TT: It’s a whole different tuning system but it’s actually an easier tuning system because it’s tuned to an open G chord. If you just strum it without fretting with the left hand or right hand (If you’re left handed), you get a really nice chord. So, in a way it’s almost easier than the guitar. Plus there are fewer strings. I play five string banjo and it has the short string at the side. So lots of times you’re only dealing with four strings. It takes a little getting used to but it’s almost easier than the guitar in terms of fingering chords and things like that.

RRX: I’ll have to try it again.

TT: Come back to the banjo.

RRX: Recently, you put out an album entitled ‘Earl Jam,’ tells us a little bit about it.

TT: The album came out this past June. I got a hold of these recordings of Earl Scruggs and John Hartford who wrote “Gentle on My Mind.” The two of them jamming at Earl Scruggs’ house in Nashville. I received a recording of about 200 tunes of them just jamming out, tunes that we’ve never heard them play before; in some cases and other cases tunes they played before but doing in a totally different arrangements. Being a banjo nerd as I am, I started transcribing some of these really cool Earl Scruggs’ solos and just fell in love all over again with Earl Scruggs’ music. I mean, I always been in love with it but just deeper, he was doing deeper things that we’ve never heard him do before. I decided that these recordings probably will never see the light of day. In fact, I think they never will see the light of day because Earl didn’t want them to be released. But I figured I can at least record these tunes and every note I’m playing on the album is note for note of what Earl played on the jam sessions, so through me people can hear what Earl did and these new things that he was doing. So that was the concept.

RRX: That’s a really great way to pay homage too. I love that.

TT: Yeah, it was really an exciting thing to be able to do it. The record company is called Down The Road and it was put together and started by the original Rounder Records folks. The folks that started Rounder Records started this new company. They’re all old friends of mine, so it’s nice to reconnect with them. The album is up for a Grammy actually.

RRX: Wow!

TT: Which will be announced in February and it won a collaboration of the year for one of the songs on the album, which Billy Strings is on; a mighty factor in the bluegrass world these days. So, it’s, doing well.

RRX: That’s really awesome. Billy Strings is really making a name for himself, right now. So to have him on your project, I think that’s really cool. Now they call you “The Father of Modern Bluegrass” or maybe it’s the Godfather? But wouldn’t that make Billy Strings your Godson?
(Both Laugh)

TT: I’m not sure about all these monikers and names that get thrown around. But anyway, yeah he’s the real deal. I’m friendly with him and his fiddle player particularly and I was talking to his fiddle player recently and asked is Billy still building, is his reputation still building? He says, yeah, we just played in Denver in front of 18,000 people!

RRX: Holy sh**!

TT: He’s doing bluegrass. People don’t seem to get that. It’s not supposed to be that popular, but he’s doing it.

RRX: He really is. That also shows that there’s a future still for bluegrass and it looks like with people like Billy Strings and others, this is gonna be around for a, while.

TT: Oh, forever. There’s a woman named Molly Tuttle who’s also on my album, She’s not quite as big as Billy yet but she’s building up to that and she’s just doing bluegrass. Bluegrass is in good hands.

RRX: Definitely! Well, I just wanted to make sure that we touch base, really looking forward to Friday the 13th.

TT: Yes. We’re doing a holiday show but we dig a little deeper and go into some more obscure tunes. Tunes that in some cases that I’ve written or that our guitar player Hannah Read has done. My son Sean Trischka plays drums with us and that’s great. Our bass player is Jared Engel who lives in Brooklyn and is a great stand up bass player. Tim Eriksen is our other guitar player and singer. Anyway, that’s the band. There will be some bluegrass and there’s a bunch of singing and that’s it. We also do an Italian song called “Dominick the Donkey” that the audience can sing along with. So what could be that?

RRX: That’s a classic right there. Well, thank you so much Tony. I appreciate your time. Definitely looking forward to seeing you on Friday.

TT: Wonderful and much appreciated.

RRX: My pleasure.

Tony Trischka’s “Of a Winter’s Night”

The Linda WAMC’s Performing Arts Studio
Friday December 13th -8pm

For Tickets Visit: thelinda.org